Data from: Sexual selection and population spatial structure interact to shape sex-specific evolutionary responses in physiology
Data files
Sep 03, 2025 version files 36.14 KB
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Metabolic_rates.csv
26.36 KB
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Oxidative_stress.csv
6.28 KB
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README.md
3.50 KB
Abstract
Different selection pressures acting on females and males arising from sexual selection and sexual conflict may lead to sex-specific phenotypic expression of physiological traits. Importantly, sexual selection is affected by ecological and demographic factors. We explored whether population spatial structure modulates the effect of sexual selection on male and female standard metabolic rates and oxidative stress. For this purpose, we used selection lines of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus subjected to divergent evolutionary regimes in the intensity of sexual selection (high vs. low, in polygamous vs. enforced monogamous populations, respectively) and the presence of metapopulation structure (absent vs. present). We found that the evolutionary treatments impacted physiological traits in a complex way. While in the selection regimes simulating metapopulation structure (i.e., divided populations) both sexes had similar metabolic rates, in undivided (unstructured) populations males had lower rates than females. Males from polygamous and undivided populations showed the lowest levels of antioxidant enzymes quantified as SOD, resulting in strong sexual dimorphism in SOD levels in this selection regime. The oxidative damage to lipids measured as TBARS levels, instead, were highest for both males and females from monogamous and undivided populations. On the whole, our results reveal two key insights. First, physiological traits evolve differently in females and males in response to sexual selection intensity and population spatial structure. Second, such sex-specific physiological responses are linked to selective pressures acting mostly on males. We highlight the importance of considering ecological and demographic factors when evaluating whether sexual selection drives sex-specific trait evolution.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.qnk98sftr
Description of the data and file structure
We explore whether the interaction between population spatial structure and sexual selection shapes key male and female physiological traits in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. To do that, we used experimental populations subjected to different intensities of sexual selection/conflict (monogamy vs polygamy), and different levels of population spatial structure (population division with connectivity – i.e., metapopulation structure – vs absence of population spatial division.
Among the physiological traits, we measured metabolic rates, oxidative stress (TBARS) and the antioxidant capacity (SOD).
The sample size was:
| Females | Males | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evolutionary regime | MR (individuals) | SOD (line replicates) | TBARS (line replicates | MR (individuals) | SOD (line replicates) | TBARS (line replicates) |
| Monogamy, subdivided | 63 | 16 | 16 | 59 | 15 | 16 |
| Monogamy, undivided | 61 | 16 | 15 | 57 | 16 | 15 |
| Polygamy, subdivided | 66 | 16 | 16 | 61 | 16 | 13 |
| Polygamy, undivided | 71 | 16 | 16 | 55 | 15 | 12 |
Files and variables
File: Metabolic_rates.csv and Oxidative_stress.csv
Description:
Variables
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ID= random identification number provided to each animal tested
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Line_id= name given to each of the 16 evolutionary lines. Nem= non-structured/monogamy; Em=structured/monogamy; Nep= non-structured/polygamy; Ep=structured/polygamy.
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Sexual selection is the sexual selection regime of the evolutionary lines
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Population structure is the demographic structure of the evolutionary lines
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Sex is the sex of the animals tested
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Lifespan= difference in days between the animal eclosed and the day of death.
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Body mass is the weight of the individuals in mg
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Metab_rate is the metabolic value obtained for each individual (mlCo2/min)
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SOD (SOD units/mg protein) and TBARS (nmol MDA/ ml) are the values of each of these variables obtained for each of the 4 replicates per sex and line tested.
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Sample= random identification number provided to each animal group tested
*NA in the Oxidative_stress dataset means that the data is not available because we were unable to get a value during the sample processing.
*NA in lifespan in the Metabolic_rates dataset means that we don't know the day of death of the individual.
Code/software
All analyses were made in R v4.2.3, using the packages lme4, lsmeans and car.
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- NA
Data was derived from the following sources:
- NA